Chicago Mayor Wants All Gun Sales Videotaped

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed requiring anyone who buys a gun in the city to be videotaped, Fox News reported.

Emanuel was reacting to a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Edmond Chang that Chicago's ordinance proscribing gun sales "goes too far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms," according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

City officials countered that Chicago police confiscate more illegal weapons than cops in any other city. They blamed the influx of illegal weapons on lax laws in surrounding areas.

The city needed tighter laws "not increased access to firearms" officials asserted, according to the Sun-Times.

The judge gave Chicago until July 14 to implement a plan that would allow gun sales in the city. The all-Democratic city council has not yet scheduled a vote on Emanuel's proposed ordinance.

Besides videotaping buyers, the ordinance would impose a 72-hour waiting period for handgun purchases and a 24-hour cooling off period for rifles. Dealers would be limited to selling one handgun a month to any single buyer.

The city would also require a series of measures including surveillance cameras, alarms, and secure storage for guns and ammunition. Workers would need to undergo background checks, fingerprinting, and take a training course on how to spot gun traffickers, Fox News reported.

Other restrictions would limit where stores could be located. No gun store could open within 500 feet of a school or park. In practice, that would restrict gun sales to an area covering less than 0.5 percent of the city, CBS radio reported.

Emanuel characterized the proposed ordinance as "a smart, tough and enforceable way to prevent illegal guns in the city of Chicago," the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Chicago-born Democratic mayor, who was elected in 2011, was formerly President Barack Obama's chief of staff. He also served three terms in the House of Representatives until 2009.